Read a very interesting story in a wildlife mag recently -
It goes something like this -

Wildogs attack waterbuck cows
Waterbuck calf runs into the water and heads for an island with a sleeping hippo on it
Waterbuck bull attacks wildogs
Hippo wakes up and chases waterbuck calf off island
Waterbuck calf heads back to shore but panics and goes back to island
Hippo goes crazy and chases calf off island
Hippo follows calf into water and bites it in half! ( well almost in half )

Do waterbuck always have white circle on their backside? Here in a zoo in the Netherlands I say waterbuck with only a white 'fade' on their backside, so no circle! Do these come from other parts of Africa?

Sorry about the delay. This is certainly an interesting question. Common waterbuck always have a white ring on their rump. However, as some waterbuck are introduced or cross-bred naturally in the wild, certain characterisitics will change. Thus, some waterbuck won't have a white ring

Back from beautiful Botswana - a long time to wait, but KNP and KTP planned for 2016!

Hi michaelpr,I've seen waterbuck throughout all East, West and Central African national parks and all had the white circle on their backsides.It is also true that those found in certain areas have a very marked circle and dark fur while those in the semi-desert zones have a very faded one and also tend to have clear fur.It really differs from area to area and depends a lot on both genetics and adaptation to the environment.

"You can leave Africa but Africa never leaves you"LIFE IS MADE OF GOOD AND BAD THINGS, I TAKE THE GOOD AND YOU CAN KEEP THE BAD!!!Andy Benaglia

The subspecies in question is the Defassa waterbuck, which would have provided some zoo specimens...

All the rest have pretty clearly defined rings!

The Defassa Waterbuck is a subspecies (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa) in which the ring on the rump is solid white. The Defassa Waterbuck are found west of the Great Rift Valley, ranging from Ethiopia west to Senegal, while the Ellipsen Waterbuck occur in south-east Africa, east of the Great Rift Valley.